Effect of High-Heels on the Feet

Posted on Mar 21, 2016 4:00pm PDT

For hundreds of years, women have been wearing various kinds of high-heels
for aesthetic reasons. Women who wear high-heels appear to be taller and
have longer and thinner legs, and the wearer’s gait and posture
changes. Though high-heels have had an association with femininity and
have kept them popular over the years, there are definite health problems
caused by wearing them too frequently.

The motion of the ankle joints is limited when heels are worn. The ankle
joint is very important to the body when it comes to walking. Because
of their location, these joints have a great deal of weight put on them.
Thus, it is very important to keep them as healthy as possible. The Achilles
tendon is the main tendon in the ankle. Wearing high-heels too often,
studies have shown, can cause the calf muscle and Achilles tendon to shorten
and stiffen. This can cause problems when shoes without heels are worn.

By putting a great deal of pressure on the ball of the foot and by forcing
the toes into a small toe box, high-heels can cause or may worsen many
foot problems. These include corns, hammertoe, bunions, Morton’s
neuroma and plantar fasciitis.

Not only does wearing very high-heels regularly have negative effects on
the feet, the rest of the body can suffer as well. The knees, one of the
most important joints in the entire body, can be affected by wearing high-heels.
High-heels causes the knees to stay bent all the time. Also, it can cause
them to bend slightly inward as well. Doctors believe that women can suffer
from osteoarthritis later in life because of constantly walking like in
high-heels. By limiting the natural motion of the foot during walking,
high-heels also cause an increased in stress on the knees.

Similarly, high-heels can cause the back to go out of alignment. If high-heels
are worn constantly, the spine’s ability to absorb shoc
k can cause continued back pain. They can compress the vertebrae of the
lower back, and can overuse the back muscles.

However, this is not to say that high-heels can never be worn. If worn
occasionally and not often, they will not cause serious problems. They
should not be worn every day. It’s important to wear them modestly
to avoid the long-term physical health problems of the feet, knees, ankles,
and back mentioned above.